• Wildfires in France's Atlantic coast force evacuation of thousands as heat and wind hamper firefighting efforts.
• Spain reports progress in fighting devastating wildfires, with Prime Minister calling for cross-party climate pact.
• Portugal battles 34 active wildfires with around 1,000 emergency personnel, smaller in scale compared to Spain.

Firefighters are using every available means to bring the wildfires raging along France's Atlantic coast under control as a new heatwave bears down on the country.

The larger of the two blazes near Bordeaux flared up again in places and forced the evacuation of thousands more tourists, while the smaller fire south-west of Bordeaux was brought under control on Monday evening, allowing 15,000 evacuees to return to their homes.

Due to the threatening wildfire situation near the well-known seaside resort of Lacanau, the prefecture in Bordeaux ordered the evacuation of campsites and holiday parks in Lacanau and Lacanau Océan on Tuesday morning, affecting around 4,000 people. The town of Lacanau and its permanent residents were initially not included in the evacuation order.

Heat and wind hamper firefighting efforts

Authorities stressed that the evacuation was a precautionary measure in light of the forecast weather conditions. A new heatwave is expected to bring rising temperatures and falling humidity.

Firefighters said on Tuesday morning that heat and wind are hampering efforts to fight the flames, which have not spread further since the weekend. To prevent the fire from spreading, firebreaks were cleared at numerous points in the forest on Monday.

A total of 2,750 firefighters from across France and some from other European countries are deployed, along with 18 water-bombing aircraft, 1,500 soldiers and 1,440 police officers.

On Monday afternoon, two transport helicopters and an A400M transport aircraft carrying supplies arrived from Germany in the region.

Turkey sends water bombers

"We will win this fight," French President Emmanuel Macron declared, thanking Turkey for sending two of its water-bombing aircraft.

France's newly appointed national football coach Zinedine Zidane also paid tribute to the emergency services at his first public appearance in the role. "I would first like to express my support to all the firefighters - many families are going through a very difficult time right now," he said.

Since Wednesday, more than 220,000 people have been brought to safety in the Atlantic coast holiday region, which is also popular with tourists from around Europe, including many visitors.

The fire came within 15 kilometres of the city of Bordeaux and has destroyed around 42,000 hectares of forest and scrubland, an area of 420 square kilometres.

Progress in Spain's firefighting effort

Emergency services in Spain are reporting significant progress in the fight against several devastating wildfires.

"We can see light at the end of the tunnel," Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said after a crisis committee meeting in Madrid. The government would deploy all available resources "until the last flame is extinguished," he said.

The areas affected by the fires have now been declared disaster zones, triggering the release of initial aid.

The Socialist politician also renewed his call for a cross-party climate pact. Denying human-caused climate change was "the worst fuel" in the fight against fires and the climate crisis, Sánchez warned journalists.

Firefighting efforts are meanwhile becoming a race against the clock, with the national weather service AEMET announcing the start of the summer's fourth heatwave for Wednesday - expected to last at least until Sunday.

Temperatures of up to 42 degrees Celsius and falling humidity could significantly hamper operations.

Spain's largest wildfire in modern history

The wildfires are hitting hardest in the province of Ávila, west of Madrid, and the neighbouring regions of Madrid and Toledo, where the flames have together destroyed nearly 80,000 hectares of forest and scrubland so far. The spread of the fires has slowed considerably since the weekend, however.

Some 90,000 people in the area around the Spanish capital have been affected by evacuations or movement restrictions.

In Ávila alone, preliminary official estimates put the area destroyed at nearly 50,000 hectares, or 500 square kilometres. This makes it the largest fire in Spain's modern history, that is, since records began in 1968.

Fires are also continuing in the province of Castellón in eastern Spain. In the Vall d'Uixó area, the flames have so far consumed around 8,500 hectares. Around 16,000 people were evacuated there in total, but around 6,000 were able to return home on Monday as the situation eased.

The Ministry of the Interior in Madrid announced an easing of the protective measures. According to the announcement, residents of 13 towns will be allowed to return to their homes as early as Tuesday evening. It was also stated that the lockdown restrictions had been lifted for four further towns. This will benefit a total of around 34,000 people in Madrid and Ávila.

A total of eight major wildfires were burning across Spain on Tuesday.

Portugal also hit by widespread fires

A total of 34 wildfires were also active across Portugal on Tuesday morning, though all remain significantly smaller than those in neighbouring Spain. They were being fought by around 1,000 emergency personnel, the authorities said.